Okaloosa continues TDC theft recovery (DOCUMENT)

Published: Tuesday, June 4, 2013 at 05:41 PM.

More than a year after discovering former tourism head Mark Bellinger illegally purchased a house in Destin with a BP oil spill grant, Okaloosa County still is waiting to recoup its losses.

Attorney Greg Stewart, who serves as the county’s special counsel, briefed county commissioners on the house and other recovery efforts at their meeting in Crestview on Tuesday.

He said the county is making progress on recovering bed tax money and BP grant money that was “inappropriately spent in the past.”

Bellinger’s four-bedroom house in Kelly Plantation sold for $620,000 in March. The federal government seized it soon after Bellinger’s theft was discovered in May 2012.

The county has petitioned to receive 100 percent of the sale proceeds.

“I talked to the Justice Department in Washington on Friday, and they have everything they need to rule on the petition,” Stewart said. “ … Everything is moving forward positively, and it looks like there’s a good likelihood that we will get our petition granted.”

BP has agreed to allow the county to use the money for its original purpose to promote tourism in the wake of the oil spill.

Stewart also updated the board on the status of more than $6,500 in furniture Bellinger purchased illegally with bed tax money. Most of the items are in storage while some are being used at the Tourist Development Council’s welcome center on Okaloosa Island.

The upscale pieces, which were purchased from Terri’s Interiors in Destin in the fall of 2011, were found in Bellinger’s home.

“It was in his office that he furnished in his house in Destin,” Richard Brannon, the county’s purchasing director, said after Tuesday’s presentation.

Brannon and Stewart are working to determine which pieces to keep for county use and which ones to sell on consignment or at auction.

One high-dollar item that remains in county storage is a $4,800 glass marlin sculpture.

“That’s a very hard item to dispose of,” Brannon said.

The sculpture is one of two purchased by Bellinger — without authorization but not illegally — for a total of $8,600 from Fine Line Studio Glass in Tallahassee. The second sculpture, which cost $3,800, stands about 6 feet tall and depicts jumping dolphins. It sits in a corner of the TDC’s welcome center.

Also in storage is one of the two customized Bourget motorcycles — a his-and-her set — that Bellinger purchased for $118,000 with bed tax money. The second motorcycle is expected to arrive in the next week.

Stewart said the county has recovered a $10,800 overpayment that was made to the spokesman of the TDC’s “Boast the Coast” promotion under Bellinger’s tenure.

The county also has made progress in recouping $25,000 Bellinger paid to the Pennsylvania-based American Wind Symphony for a concert that never took place.

“We have gotten a default judgment against the symphony orchestra and we are filing the necessary paperwork to get an actual money judgment … to go after them for actual payment,” Stewart said.

The county also has recovered more than half of an unauthorized $82,000 advance payment Bellinger made to Aramark, the county’s food vendor at the Emerald Coast Convention Center.

Stewart said Bellinger was using the money for a variety of events, including cruises, office parties and charitable contributions.

“Most of these are expenditures I would deem inappropriate for tourist development tax dollars,” he told the board.

Aramark has paid back $45,328 but discussion has now “shut down,” Stewart said.

To recoup the remaining $36,671, he recommended the county pull that amount from a “joint activities” account put in place and fully funded by Aramark under its contract with the county. Commissioners voted unanimously to withdraw the money.

More than a year after discovering former tourism head Mark Bellinger illegally purchased a house in Destin with a BP oil spill grant, Okaloosa County still is waiting to recoup its losses.

Attorney Greg Stewart, who serves as the county’s special counsel, briefed county commissioners on the house and other recovery efforts at their meeting in Crestview on Tuesday.

He said the county is making progress on recovering bed tax money and BP grant money that was “inappropriately spent in the past.”

Bellinger’s four-bedroom house in Kelly Plantation sold for $620,000 in March. The federal government seized it soon after Bellinger’s theft was discovered in May 2012.

The county has petitioned to receive 100 percent of the sale proceeds.

“I talked to the Justice Department in Washington on Friday, and they have everything they need to rule on the petition,” Stewart said. “ … Everything is moving forward positively, and it looks like there’s a good likelihood that we will get our petition granted.”

BP has agreed to allow the county to use the money for its original purpose to promote tourism in the wake of the oil spill.

Stewart also updated the board on the status of more than $6,500 in furniture Bellinger purchased illegally with bed tax money. Most of the items are in storage while some are being used at the Tourist Development Council’s welcome center on Okaloosa Island.

The upscale pieces, which were purchased from Terri’s Interiors in Destin in the fall of 2011, were found in Bellinger’s home.

“It was in his office that he furnished in his house in Destin,” Richard Brannon, the county’s purchasing director, said after Tuesday’s presentation.

Brannon and Stewart are working to determine which pieces to keep for county use and which ones to sell on consignment or at auction.

One high-dollar item that remains in county storage is a $4,800 glass marlin sculpture.

“That’s a very hard item to dispose of,” Brannon said.

The sculpture is one of two purchased by Bellinger — without authorization but not illegally — for a total of $8,600 from Fine Line Studio Glass in Tallahassee. The second sculpture, which cost $3,800, stands about 6 feet tall and depicts jumping dolphins. It sits in a corner of the TDC’s welcome center.

Also in storage is one of the two customized Bourget motorcycles — a his-and-her set — that Bellinger purchased for $118,000 with bed tax money. The second motorcycle is expected to arrive in the next week.

Stewart said the county has recovered a $10,800 overpayment that was made to the spokesman of the TDC’s “Boast the Coast” promotion under Bellinger’s tenure.

The county also has made progress in recouping $25,000 Bellinger paid to the Pennsylvania-based American Wind Symphony for a concert that never took place.

“We have gotten a default judgment against the symphony orchestra and we are filing the necessary paperwork to get an actual money judgment … to go after them for actual payment,” Stewart said.

The county also has recovered more than half of an unauthorized $82,000 advance payment Bellinger made to Aramark, the county’s food vendor at the Emerald Coast Convention Center.

Stewart said Bellinger was using the money for a variety of events, including cruises, office parties and charitable contributions.

“Most of these are expenditures I would deem inappropriate for tourist development tax dollars,” he told the board.

Aramark has paid back $45,328 but discussion has now “shut down,” Stewart said.

To recoup the remaining $36,671, he recommended the county pull that amount from a “joint activities” account put in place and fully funded by Aramark under its contract with the county. Commissioners voted unanimously to withdraw the money.